School walkouts planned across New Jersey, as students say 'never again' to shootings

Students reflect on the Parkland, Fla. mass shooting, near-constant worries about the threat of gun violence in their schools and what they see as a lack of government response to make schools safer. (Interviews by NorthJersey staff videographers.)
Michael V. Pettigano / NorthJersey.com

Students across New Jersey will join a national walkout on March 14, part of a national show of activism.

Casey Bedwell-Coll, 14, a freshman at Glen Rock High School, at the home of a friend on Feb. 20, 2018.(Photo: Michael Karas/NorthJersey.com)

Students in schools across New Jersey are planning to walk out of their classrooms on March 14 as part of a national show of activism to call for an end to gun violence in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The students will leave their schools at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes — one for every person killed in the Florida shooting last week. Gov. Phil Murphy, expressing pride in students “showing us the way,” said on Tuesday that the state Education Department will issue guidelines to schools so students can safely protest on that day.

In North Jersey, students mobilized within days of hearing about the walkout, getting the word out on social media and reaching out to administrators to discuss their plans. Teenagers at Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Demarest, River Dell, Lyndhurst, Madison and Mendham are among those who are making plans for the walkout — and more are expected to join the effort as students return from February break.

“Students care, and they have a voice and need a voice,” said Laurence S. Fine, 14, one of the students organizing the walkout at Ridgewood High School. "We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones losing our lives. We want to make a stand and show everyone we matter.”

Since the Florida shooting on Feb. 14, young people have been among the strongest voices protesting gun violence and calling for reform. The survivors of the shooting in Florida have taken the lead in the “Never Again” movement, speaking out publicly, writing op-eds, meeting lawmakers and organizing protests.

Students leading the movement

Casey Bedwell-Coll, 14, who is organizing a walkout at Glen Rock High School, said teenagers haven’t been very outspoken before, aside from comments on social media. But as they have become inspired by the courage of the Florida students and worried about their safety, that has changed.

“It’s come to a point where no one is doing anything about it, so kids have to take it into their own hands and try to take action,” she said.

Samantha Marks, a sophomore at Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest who is also involved in planning a walkout, said the government has failed to protect students like herself.

“There’s no way someone should be able to obtain an AR-15 rifle with minimum security and background checks," Marks said. "We should live in society where we can go to school in an environment where we can be safe.”

She added: “I think it’s a pivotal time to have their voices heard and help be the change we want to see.”

In Lyndhurst, a high school student, Elena Perez, said she and about 10 classmates have been getting the word out on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook about a walkout there, since school is closed this week.

“We are doing this for students and staff who no longer have a voice after these horrendous school shootings,” said Perez, a junior. “We see that we get so many thoughts and prayers when things like this happen, but we see no action.”

Students at several Morris County schools were also preparing for the walkout.

“We must show solidarity to Americans impacted by gun violence, and we must challenge Congress to create solutions to this public health crisis tearing apart communities across America,” said Peri Munter, a 17-year-old senior who is spearheading the walkout at Madison High School.

Madison's superintendent, Mark Schwarz, said he supports the rights of students to speak out about gun violence. Schwarz said he will meet with students and faculty members to work out concerns about student safety during the event and the loss of classroom time during the walkout.

“We’re extremely proud of our students who are so eager to take social action like this,” Schwarz said. “We hope our students will always take action when they see a social injustice.”

Glen Rock High School Principal John Arlotta, who met with students Wednesday about the walkout, said he will work with police to ensure their safety during the protest and provide a space for students who do not want to participate.

Michael Yannone, a social studies teacher and head of the Ridgewood teachers’ union, said it is important for teachers to support the push for school safety, for themselves and their students.

As a union, he said, “we fight for our students and we fight for better classroom conditions, whether they are buildings that are crumbling down or buildings that are not safe. This is a safety issue; this is a local issue; this is a federal issue. This is why we have a union: to protect everyone in our school buildings.”

But said he wasn't sure whether teachers would join the walkout or stick to a supervisory role. Teachers have to check their policies and their contracts, which may ban their participation in walkouts on school time. On March 14, they have to ensure that the building is secured and that students who stay inside during the walkout are monitored.

Murphy 'proud' of students

“From the absolute ground zero of tragedy in Parkland, look at the way those kids have responded in their extraordinary grief, now around the county and, I’m proud to say, around New Jersey,” he said.

Lamont Repollet, acting education commissioner, said he will issue recommendations for school officials to make sure they give adequate space and work with law enforcement on safety during the walkout.

“We want to make sure the space provided to those students, that area that’s designated, to ensure we don’t have intruders come in to do things they should not do and hopefully these students will have a peaceful protest,” he said.